Hockey and Airplanes
by Lunetaylina
Summary: But Juliane and Mathieu; Juliane and Mathieu weren't the only couple that had trouble, they weren't just high school sweethearts or each other's best friends. They just went together, in a simple term, like hockey and airplanes.


Disclaimer: I do not own Hetalia, Canada/Mathieu-Matthew-Mathew-Birdie, Fem!Prussia/Juliane-Julia-Julie-Jul, Fritz, Edgar Allan Poe, Germany/Ludwig-Lud, Holy Roman Empire-HRE/Izaak, or the Musical Offering. Author's Notes at the end.

* * *

Hockey and Airplanes

* * *

_A strawberry blond 24 year-old stood on his hotel room balcony, violet-blue eyes scanned over the city he called his home, once upon a time. He leaned forward on the railing; bringing the wine glass to his lips for a sip. Everything seemed to be the same; he could still hear the cars passing in the streets, people laughing as they walked past each other and the occasional sirens of the police chasing down a criminal with the smell of rain pending down. Nothing had really changed about the town since he had left._

_Sighing he reentered into the hotel room, setting the glass on the coffee table before settling himself onto the couch. Leaning back he switched the TV on and flipped through the channels until he caught sight of a familiar face._

"_It appears that Patriot linebacker, Alfred Kirkland-Bonnefoy, had a long night with his new girlfriend… Yep, he was caught having a romantic late night dinner at the legendary Doux pour la Terre__¹__ with none other than Ly Vua, the cousin of stunt performer Yao Wang. When asked about it early this morning he replied, "A high school friend owns the place, and we ran into each other the other day. Couldn't help to catch up, dudes.""_

_So, his brother finally made a move? It wouldn't hurt; Ly and Alfred always did make a cute couple. They completed each other, Alfred being loud, out-going, obsessed with happy-endings and Ly, on the other hand, was more withdrawn, shy and wasn't even sure if fairytales exist. Alfred would be good for Ly._

"_Speaking of the Kirkland-Bonnefoy clan, the rumors going around Mathieu, Alfred's brother, and his rumored girlfriend, Juliane Beilsch-"_

_Mathieu__²__ switched off the TV and snatched his glass back up. The last thing he needed to worry about on his vacation was his relationship with Juliane__³__, it already kept him up at night, he was already getting told off by Romano and Romano hated her, the last thing he needed was to hear it from the media that knew absolutely nothing about either of them._

_But Juliane; Juliane was something. She wasn't just his best friend, or the girl that showed him that he was better than what others said he was. __Juliane Beilschmidt __was, in a simple term, awesome._

* * *

He couldn't breathe for a moment when he made impact with the white linoleum flooring, or look at something without it spinning for several moments later. In his dazed state he managed to get onto his back and attempt to push his attacker away, which failed miserably when they started to fight back for the upper hand.

"Yeah, yeah," hands shoved his shoulders down, "Mat, stop fighting."

Mathieu's name alone made his paused. As a sophomore he wasn't widely recognized, there was nothing about him that stood out from anyone else. He was simply Mathieu Williams-Jones, a member of the school's hockey team. In fact, if someone ever bothered him it was because they mistook him for his brother, who was well known.

With his shoulders pinned, he shook his tangled hair from his face to look at the person that was currently straddling him.

The platinum blonde hair cascaded over the person's shoulders, and it wasn't until that he got a good look at the girl's face that he realized not only did she have her pulled hair pulled up but she was a senior. Not just any senior that someone passed in the hall without ever knowing their name, it was the one with killer red eyes that made platinum look white; it was Juliane Maria Gillian Beilschmidt.

"Hey, Birdie," she greeted with a smirk. "I'm Juliane and it's awesome to meet you."

Mathieu knew who she was. Juliane was his cousin's best friend, she was a senior, drum major of the marching band, first chair flute in concert, and she was in the JROTC Color Guard. She was smart, strong, and beautiful and extremely off limits least you want her brother, François and Antonio to step in. That had been one heck of a show last year when it was given.

"Yeah," he said setting himself on his elbows. He wanted to ask her to get off of him but he never was good at talking to anyone other than his family before.

Juliane let go of his shoulders and settled herself on his knees instead of his stomach, now he could breathe easier, "If I didn't know you were half American and half French I would have thought you spoke German just then."

"O-okay," he stuttered out, his blue eyes shifting from person to disappearing person in the hall from behind his glasses. "Did… Did you need something?"

"_Ja_, and I won't take "no" or "non" for an answer. You and I are going to go on a date after school. It's Friday and there's this place just down Empire road that I've wanted a cute boy to take me. Now, that I have a cute boy by the name of Mathieu Williams-Jones I can. So, be ready." The senior practically bounced of him and stood up, looking over her shoulder as she ran down the hall. "I'll see you after class, Birdie!"

Juliane wasn't lying about seeing him after class because the moment he got out there she was, a slim black case slung against her back and tapping against a cell phone screen, waiting right across from the class room leaning against the lockers. When she spotted him through the crowd of bustling underclassmen her eyes lit up, flashing almost evilly.

"Hey," she wrapped a pale hand around his wrist and began to tug him out of the school. "Let's go, if we want to get home early we need to get there five minutes ago. Are you ready for an awesome night, Birdie?"

"S-sure," Mathieu answered, too confused to say anything else, his eyes darting around the halls for his brother.

Juliane was a part of the most feared group at the school, dubbed the Bad Touch Trio, who tormented everybody from freshmen to teachers. While the BTT never constantly teased him since his own cousin was a member they didn't pay attention to him much either. So, what was Juliane's game?

Mathieu watched as she threw her case into the back and she climbed into the driver's seat. There had to be a reason Juliane was talking to him and no one else wanted too.

"What's going on, Juliane?" he asked as she pulled out of the student parking lot, a tone making the senior flinch.

"What do you mean?"

He took a breath, "No one talks to me, so why did you?"

"I pass you in the same hall every other day, and you always look so lonely. I'd thought I might do something so you don't look like someone kicked your dog; François told me you own a Huskie." She laughed nervously after her explanation.

"You're planning something. I know your guys' game, I know my cousin; what is it?"

Juliane let go of the stirring wheel at a red light and leaned over the console, surprising the sophomore with a peck before pulling away.

Mathieu blinked and dumbly said, "I don't get it."

"I like you, obviously," Juliane said unblushingly. "That's why I'm claiming you."

He blinked again, "Why are you exactly claiming me?"

"Birdie, I don't know if you've noticed but you're cute. I figure just skip the whole getting to know each other process, in case anyone gets the chance to snatch you away. So, we're dating, got it? Awesome."

At the end of the night, when Mathieu was dropped off, and he was looking at his bedroom his ceiling, he found himself wishing that the day would come back.

* * *

_Mathieu tilted his head so it rested on the back of the white couch, staring at the ceiling much like he did that first night._

_ That was the day that he discovered the Juliane just wasn't beautiful on the outside but the inside as well. She was smart, beyond smart, AP classes since she was a sophomore and nothing else ever since. Juliane was inspired to play flute after finding out Friederick the Great__6__, she wasn't forced by her mom like many assumed, she also played piccolo but flute was always where her heart was. That she was an amazingly fast learner, the reason why she understood most French and Spanish spoken by her two best friends. And as much as she teased her younger brother, Ludwig__, she adored himself to no end. She told him about how she sometimes had dreams of him being held in a cell that had a barred window so he could look out to a wall with barbed wire and watch towers, when she woke up in the middle of the night she would make the trip from her basement bedroom to his second floor room just to check if he's okay. And every time she cooked dinner with bratwurst she always gave him a couple more. Or that her eyes were really blue, a darker blue than her family's but blue, and she wore contacts because they became annoying during certain classes and summer camps._

_ He discovered so much more about her as their relationship grew._

_ Letting a short sigh slip past his lips he got to his feet and went to the bedroom across the room. He needed to get out of there before he let his thoughts carry him into a depression, which was another thing he didn't need while he was there._

_ Once he entered the bedroom that would be his for another week he sat on the well-made bed, looking at the black screen of the TV in the room._

_ That spring Juliane had burst into his hockey practice, slipping across the ice to get to him, a big smile spread across her lips as she announced her acceptance to West Point__. He had felt both happy and heartbreak and admitting that to her was probably one of the hardest things he ever did._

_ Juliane simply smiled and assured him that they had summer and forever._

* * *

Mathieu should have never trusted his brother, never. Never ask a still sleeping Alfred F. Williams-Jones if he remembered to fill the truck up with gas after his game the night before. He was actually madder at himself that he believed Alfred.

The one day they were able to have a retreat to Roman Canyon, when Mathieu didn't have conditioning and Juliane was back from her boot camp at a local air base. The first day they would be able to spend together since summer began, they couldn't. The one day the truck sputtered and died half way down the Canyon's road.

Juliane smiled at her boyfriend hitting his head repeatedly into the stirring wheel, muttering strings of French curses fall around his twin's name. At one point, she decided that she didn't like him trying to give himself brain damage.

"Alright, Birdie, calm down." She laughed forcing his already bright red forehead from

the wheel. "It's not that bad. We can walk home if we need to and grab a gas can then take another car up here to fill her up."

"We're almost 4 miles from town, Jul, and it might actually rain." Mathieu groaned trying to force his head back to the stirring wheel but Juliane was so much stronger than she looked.

"Come on," she practically sang, horribly off key was noted with smiled. "The awesome me will protect you from the lightening."

That was his girlfriend, the girl that believed she could do anything, with an impenetrable ego the size of Russia. Which is actually why she and Alfred couldn't be left in a room alone without supervision, does not lead to good things as Christmas had proven.

"You know, Birdie," Juliane started as they entered their third hour of walking to town. "I'm going to miss this. I mean, I don't know when I'll see you again after I leave."

That was a thing. In the back of his mind, since the moment she told him about West Point, he knew that it wasn't going to end well for them. She was going to be an officer in the military and he was planning on teaching Canadian literature if he wasn't drafted into the NHL, there was no place for their relationship to go but down.

"We have email, phones," he answered looking down at the steps he took. "I knew it won't happen every day but I could wait every day for it to ring. Besides it's better for you to call me, knowing West Point schedules are probably hectic."

Juliane could only smile, really. She made the right choice with this one just like François said she would.

"You know, I always thought that I would end up with a man that would recreate history for me. With photo shop or an actual event and stage a past one. But you know what? You're better than any of them could be to me, Birdie."

Mathieu, the ever shy twin, blushed at her comment. He looked at his feet and watches his feet step over the small pieces of gravel on the road.

"I decided to cut my hair." Juliane said to stop the silence that was bound to happen.

"_Quoi(__9)_?" he snapped in French making Juliane jump. "I know shorter hair is easier to take care of but why?"

Juliane sighed knowing this question would come up, she already knew reason but if she could handle it as well as she did over four years in ROTC then why chop it off? It was something she had yet to even ask herself. She shifted closer to the nearly six foot male, pressing their arms together and buried her face into his shoulder, knowing her breath tickled when she felt him tense than relax, "Do you think it'll look bad? Because I'm _way_ too sexy for it too look bad."

Mathieu was silent as they continued to walk, grey clouds covering the blue sky, "I don't think you'll look bad, you are very attractive but you have really beautiful hair. You… wouldn't cut it all off would you?"

"No, just most of it, _vati_10 und _Bruder__¹¹_ complains about it because I keep getting it on fire or it falls into my food. But Elizaveta says I would look like a boy with it short… _not_ that it matters to me. I mean, I thought I'd still look pretty."

"It's your decision, love."

Juliane smiled, "You sound like Artie."

"Thanks because I love to sound like my "dad"."

"I still find it creepy that you're talking about getting adopted by Arthur and François, they just got a married and you're only two years younger than us."

Before the couple knew it they were at Juliane's house, her father and younger brother visibly watching them from inside the house, it was good thing too; the beginning plops of rain began to fall.

"I'll tell _vati_ about the truck and we'll get it tomorrow, for now, I'm going to get my keys and give you a ride." She said opening her front door.

They were welcomed by streams of German, several barking dogs, and the smell of bratwurst.

"Hello, Mathieu." Steele blue eyes landed on him.

"H-hey, Hr¹2. Beilschimdt," He answered.

The thing about the other men in her life besides François, Arthur, Antonio, and him where that they all looked capable of murder, and maybe that just came with the German heritage or maybe it was because she was the only girl in the family that currently had a boyfriend; not saying little Elise couldn't get one because she was really chummy with Romano lately but she had an overprotective older brother in ROTC.

Hr. Beilschimdt, Ludwig, and Izaak1³ looked so similar, blonde hair, blue eyes, big muscles, and dogs that obey their every word. Then there was little Izaak, who hasn't laughed a single time since Mathieu was introduced as his older sister's boyfriend.

"I'm sure you have an explanation as to way you guys walked home instead of dropping my girl off."

Mathieu was never going to get use to those hard blue eyes, "Ah, the…"

"Alfred forgot to fill the truck up with gas last night." Juliane butted in. "We got here before it began to rain. And I was going to grab my keys so I could take Mathieu home."

"_Nein_¹ ," Hr. Beilschimdt put an arm out to stop his daughter from passing. "Your brother will take him."

Ludwig went to the kitchen briefly, dogs trailing closely behind him, and came back out with his own keys in his hand. He tilted his head to the door and exited, knowing Mathieu was going to follow.

"Alright, um," he turned toward the door and then turned back toward Juliane. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"_Ja_," she nodded.

It was a common thing that they never touched in front of her father; it became too awkward for both of them.

He left the house and went down the walk way to Ludwig's car; it was like clockwork the moment he stepped off the steps when it began to rain.

"Mattie," Juliane called from the house.

Now, when he turned around to face her he wasn't expecting for her to jump onto him like she was a monkey, or whisper that she always wanted to kiss in the rain.

He was seventeen, with a girlfriend, who was he to be complaining?

* * *

_Mathieu tugged the sleeves of his coat down, keeping his gaze on the puddles that vibrated when he stepped too close to them._

_ When she first returned home for Thanksgiving with her hair trimmed and several duffle bags hanging off of her he had been so surprised. Her hair had surprised him. She had walked up to him and look at him, fiddling with her hands, a sign of her insecurity that rarely butted its __head. Running a hand through it he welcomed her back._

_He had heard from somewhere that you needed to be carefully around those who had __flashbacks, maybe he was one of those people because after what those TV people said he wasn't able to stop thinking about her. It made him feel like a love-struck teenager all over again, not that it was a bad feeling._

_It was feeling that he hadn't experienced since they exited the honeymoon stage. That was when things became harder, since she was at the Academy, it seemed like she only appeared a few weeks in summer, Christmas and Thanksgiving._

_When she came around they would get in her Jetta that was always in her dad's garage and just drive, catch up, stop at the place at the end of Empire road and go and eat at the Garden._

_Then when she had graduated and was sent on her first deployment, he was there when she exited the terminal to begin her leave. Not that going out to have some fun is something someone wants to do when they just came back from war._

* * *

"Birdie," Juliane whispered into his ear one night. "Are you awake?"

He rolled onto his side so he could see the army officer, the sheet tangling into his legs, "Yeah. Is something wrong?"

Juliane was lying like she was board, staring up at the ceiling with her rarely seen blue eyes, her hands lying across her stomach as if she was in a casket, "I was ready for what was ahead of me, and I knew I was or I would have ended up like Edgar Allen Poe¹ … That was supposed to be a joke, Birdie… But once you're over there, it's just you can't think about anything but the man getting shot down beside you."

Mathieu would have lied if it wasn't so obvious to the other members of their family that something about Juliane had changed. It took a bit more effort for her smile to reach her eyes now; she would sometimes tense when something was loud. It was like when someone had someone like Juliane just barely figured out something went and changed her way of thought.

"They made me fill out, what the others call, "don't kill your spouse survey". Trying to find the first sign of PTSD."

It was hard to imagine Juliane with PTSD; it wasn't something that happens to her. Not the leading member of the Bad Touch Trio who was the life of every party.

"Things got better, I got use to it, but sometimes I still find myself holding my breath and counting to ten repeatedly to get my mind away from everything. It's weird meeting someone one day than finding their name on the list of causalities the next." She turned, tucking her arm under her head and reaching to brush some of his hair that was now longer than her behind his ear. "I'm sorry I didn't call or email as much as I did, I thought that if I hadn't time would just past by faster."

Mathieu never thought he would ever see Juliane as broken as she then. Juliane was still there just she wasn't sure how to handle the change in surroundings so easily. That was obvious to tell.

"It just made it drag on. It sounds awfully cheesy, and you know how unawesome cheesiness is to me."

"I could guess."

"I'm glad that I'm here, you kind of make all the ghosts go away."

"… That was rather cheesy, would you like torttilla chips with that?"

Juliane chuckled and rolled back onto her back, "That was terrible, you've been hanging out with Artie for far too long."

Mathieu followed her lead to stare at the ceiling, "I might have forgotten to mention that

François and Arthur asked if Al and I would want to be adopted."

"So, you're saying if we get married I'm going to be related to Artie and Frenchy?"

"They're going to be your in-laws, Mrs. Kirkland-Bonnefoy." He answered cheekily.

"_Gott¹_6," she groaned. "Isn't it bad enough that I'm friends with them?"

"But you have to admit it has a ring to it. Juliane Maria Gillian Kirkland-Bonnefoy."

"Birdie, you are so lucky that I love you." She sighed.

Mathieu bit it his lip wondering how he was going to say what he wanted to ask, "So… Ah, did you meet any hot guys over there?"

Juliane burst with laughter before she answered with a wide smile, one that hadn't been seen in days, "Yeah, just none of them were big strong hockey players; or blonde with blue eyes."

"So you like blondes?"

"_Ja_, but strawberry blondes with violet eyes are so much better,"

* * *

_Mathie wondered where Juliane was currently. Was she safe at home with a new boyfriend? Half across the world away and waiting to skype François and Arthur, Antonio and Belle, or Ludwig and Anita; maybe just getting on a plane to return home or go to Afghanistan or Iraq? Juliane was probably smiling brightly where ever she was though and that was what kind of bothered him._

_ He wasn't there to see it. Mathieu never thought he would be the one sticking to the "no matter how many twist and turns life takes you on you're never going to forget your first love" line. That was more of Arthur, François and Alfred's thing._

_ Before he dwelled on that topic for long a glass door swung open unannounced and a customer quickly exited, neither people has time to react before they collided. Mathieu paused to apologize profusely when the sound of liquid splatter against the already wet cement eached his ears, but his voice caught in his throat, contracting and making it nearly impossible for him to breath._

_ The person had snapped around, almost white hair whipping across the space between them, mouth wide and set on swearing him out with eyes narrowed and dilated, "Watch where you are going, du-"_

_ It wasn't as much as a surprise to see her there than it was to see that the now 27 year old hadn't changed apart from hair length. Her pale face was still narrow, looking like it came from an Ancient Greek statue, she still wore her red contacts, her signature black boots with the dark blue coat. There she was, flesh and blood standing in front of him, face changing from rage to pure flabbergasted._

_ Looking as if he had just seen a ghost he said something to her the first time in two years, his old stutter returning for the reunion, "B-Bonjour__¹__,"_

* * *

It was raining when he came off the plane; it made him ponder the option of calling Juliane to pick him up. He had come on a whim, a surprise on his own birthday before she got her post assignment so calling and ruining it was not an option, no matter how much he was dying to see here.

His cellphone rang when he be began to enter the taxi he had called, blurring notes and sliding musical runs of _the Musical Offering__¹ _, letting him know exactly who was calling at 12 AM on July 1st.

"_Bonjour_, Jul," he answered, trying to sound as tired as he could, knowing that he had been a terrible liar.

"What are you doing up so late? I swear, Birdie, if you're having a party without me you're not getting the maple syrup I have stocked for your present." She joked. "Happy birthday, Birdie."

"Thanks, Jul. How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, still waiting for my assignment but it should be in sometime this week. And you? Having back problems yet? Any lost teeth?"

"I'm going fine too; no back problems and I haven't lost any teeth. Still have all of them out and hopefully it stays that way…" he watched lights from shops, street sign and random cars pass by. "Jul, it's late, I just got in and I'm tired. Can I call you back later today?"

"Just don't forget to… I miss you and you're awesome."

"You're awesome too, Jul."

"Alright, night, my little bird."

"Night,"

The taxi driver looked back from his front mirror, "Girlfriend?"

"Yeah." Mathieu answer with a small smile and faint traces of a blush.

The smell of rain still lingering around as he stepped out of the taxi in front of the apartment complex that Ludwig had told him that Juliane was staying in. He hadn't felt that excited since he was drafted to the Senetors but who wouldn't be excited to see their girlfriend before she left on an 18 month deployment. Mathieu paid the driver and ran inside.

The red carpet creaked underneath his steps, like any apartment complexes would. The dim lights in the hallway leading the way to the room at the end of the hall, reminded him just how late it was. Windows peeking from selected places showed the darken sky with the city lights blurring; the loud honks from cut off drivers were muffled.

He checked the room number on the yellow paper in his hand before raising a hand to knock on the brown wooden. Stepping back her began to picture how the scene would go when Juliane discovered her late night visitor was him, the door swung open, the woman pausing only a second giving him time to wave shyly and smile a greeted before Juliane throw her arms around his neck, her face buried into his neck as she took in that he was there.

"You're such a liar, going to bed." She whispered, she gave no sign of letting the other blonde go. "I've missed you so much."

Mathieu just simply nuzzled into her, "I missed you too, Jul. Sorry about lying but I thought I might give myself a birthday gift too. And sorry about the time, it's so late."

"It doesn't matter. Come in; don't need to wait in the hallway." Juliane said pulling him inside before snatching his suitcase from the doorway. "You should have told me you were coming; I would have gone to pick you up. It's raining, you know."

The apartment was small, consisting of a room, a sitting room and then the kitchen. A single couch sat in the middle of the sitting room with a TV on a stand, papers were scattered across the coffee table in the middle of the room and pictures lined the windowsill on the other end of the room.

"I wanted to surprise you and I didn't what to me a bother,"

"You sound just like your father." She ran her hand through her than short hair and began her way to her kitchen. "Do you want a drink or something because-"

Mathieu caught the Army officer around her waist, "No, let's just go to bed, it is one in the morning."

He took in the girl for the first time in a while, "Look at your hair," he said running his fingers through it. "I still can't believe how short it is.

"Of course you don't but you love me how ever I look."

The week started with Juliane skipping around the town with him close in tow, babbling about Ludwig and how he finally asked out the girl he was crushing on forever, and telling him about Izaak and how he was just about to graduate college and continue her and Ludiwg's step of going to West Point. One night Mathieu told her that he was going to take her out and took her to François' place, when it was just a small fancy restaurant at the edge of town, and Juliane proved to be the same outspoken and outgoing girl from high school when she pulled him from his seat and said she wanted to dance. They were sure François and Arthur had gotten pictures and were holding out on them. One day they just spent sitting on her couch watching cartoons, making pancakes because Juliane could never get enough of them. He would launch into stories about his time in the NHL, talking about the things his new teammates did and she would lean in and peck his lips before telling him that he looks really happy with where he was. He would ask how she was doing and her stories took on somber notes, of how she could met someone one day and find them on the list of causalities the next afternoon, or how the twenty-one gun salute always did more than make her wince.

That was the week things ended for them, not that Mathieu planned it. It wasn't the last day he was there that he decided it was better for the both of them, for him, in case she never came back. It would be easier for him if he didn't love her.

And on his last day her found her in the living room, sitting on the floor, looking over papers and wearing one of his old hockey shirts he had sent her before her first deployment.

"Hey, Birdie," she said when he entered the apartment, beaming up at him. "I finally got my base assignment… What are those?"

He glanced nervously at Cornflowers in his hand, her favorite flowers even if she wouldn't admit more than once. Taking a long sigh he made his way over and sat on the couch, holding them out to her, the plastic wrap crinkling by his movement, "They're for you, you know. I had seen them at the flower shop and thought of you."

"Birdie," she said taking them from him. "You didn't have to."

"Actually, Jul, I did… We need to talk."

That was a line you never wanted to hear of a lover. Especially, if they looked as serious as Mathieu did in that moment.

"W-What about?"

It was the first Juliane ever stumbled. Confident, smart, beautifully strong Juliane Beilschimdt did not stutter, stall or stumble; it was not in her nature but Mathieu Williams-Jones Kirkland-Bonnefoy, Mattie, her Birdie did things to her that nobody else really could.

"About us."

And she never thought her heart would stop from two years alone.

"I don't think this is going to work out between us anymore." Mathieu made the mistake

of looking at her. "I mean, it's just you're in the army and I'm in Canada. It won't work. So, I

think it would just be better-"

Juliane got up and left. Didn't let him finish, just left the papers and the Cornflowers on the floor and walked to her room, closing the door soundly behind her.

It broke Mathieu's heart knowing that he wasn't going to be able to back out of the moment, not when she wasn't going to listen, swallowing, he stood up. Taking a look around briefly before he decided to leave.

Sitting in the airport was horrible. He only thought about her sitting alone, moving on, how she was always the lively one, or how she could change characters from being François' wild best friend to being the wild girlfriend Mathieu introduced to François after he became his legal father.

Then the plane came and the relationship was over.

* * *

_"Hey, Bi- Mathieu,"_

_ Mathieu flinched at the sound of his full name on her lips._

_ "How have you been?" she asked putting her guard back together, smiling like she was just François' friend._

_ "I'm fine. I'm sorry about the coffee." He said looking down at the brown colored liquid._

_ Juliane looked down, like she had completely forgotten about it, "Oh, it is fine, it's just coffee. I could just buy a new one."_

_ "Or you could let me buy you one." Warning signs flashed in his mind screaming wrong move. What exactly were the chances of his ex-girlfriend agreeing to let him buy her coffee like he was asking out his co-worker?_

_ "I'd actually like that. The Garden just moved downtown and I've wanted to go there for the longest time." She said in a simpler way than she did almost seven years ago._

_ "Lead the way,"_

_ The Garden had moved into a bigger place, although it kept the dimly lit Paris night theme. It was like walking into the past when he watched Juliane move around from the corner of his eye._

_ "You asked me but I never asked how you are? How's Ludwig and them?"_

_ Juliane thought for a moment, "Ludwig's getting married, military wedding and he was convinced by Anna to let me and Roderich to perform the wedding march. I haven't touched my flute in a long time and since Felicia was born I don't think he's gotten around to much practice either. Izaak's doing fine, definitely carrying on the Beilschimdt legacy down at the Point. And, yeah, I'm on leave right now. I have to head back to post at the end of the week, just came by to look at where I grew up."_

_ "You've grown your hair out." He added._

_ Juliane reach up to touch the ends, "Ja, it was like you liked it better when it was long so…"_

_ They developed into a long silence, waiting for one of them to break their dam and let it all out, everything that they felt since._

_ "It rained today," he muttered after several moments of silence._

_ "Okay, Mathieu, why are we doing this? We're going to have to address the elephant at some point."_

_ It was just like her to take the first step._

_ "You realize the last time I saw you, you bought me cornflowers and broke up with me and then left, just like seven years of our lives didn't happen. Sometimes I let myself think that you're in season and you'll be visiting me when it's over." She played with her fingers on top of the table, her guard dropping slightly. "I try not to love you, but you realize you're the first guy I have ever really wanted to date. Mein__¹__9__ vati never really said it but I knew he approved, he liked how you took care of me."_

_ "I'm sorry for what happen." He got out making her look up in surprise. "You need to realize that it's not easy for me either. I stay up most nights just wondering if you're okay, I even let myself think that you're on tour and will call any moment. But I got scared, having an army officer as a lover doesn't usually end up in happy endings."_

_ "I get that, and I still would have liked to try to make it work, Mattie. I wasn't asking for much but I was asking for you."_

_ "Where do we stand now?"_

_ "Nowhere good because I'm sure I'll blow up about you dumping me at one point, and vati and Ludwig are definitely going to give you hell the next time they see you. But I would like to think that we're getting back together because I still love you."_

_ Mathieu leaned across the table, "I'll tell you something, Jul, I loved you the moment you tackled me in the hall."_

_ "Liar."_

_ They weren't perfect. Mathieu was too in love with hockey to let go of it but Juliane meant much more than winning a game could. Juliane will always be in danger and have fear that Mathieu might realize why he left all over again. They weren't perfect._

_ But Juliane and Mathieu; Juliane and Mathieu weren't the only couple that had trouble, they weren't just high school sweethearts or each other's best friends. They just went together, in a simple term, like hockey and airplanes._

* * *

**Author's Notes**:

**1**_) Doux pour la Terre, _meaning Gentle Earth in French

**2**) French spelling for Matthew or Mathew, meaning "gift of God"

**3**) Feminine French and German form of Julianus, meaning "descended from Jupiter"

**4**) German; "yes"

**5**) French; "no"

**6**) The king of Prussia from 31 May 1740 – 17 August 1786

**7**) Ludwig, German name, a variant form of Hludwig, meaning "famous warrior"

**8**) West Point, The United States Military Academy at West Point, USMA West Point, Army, The Academy or the Point; four-year coeducational federal service academy located in West Point, New York.

**9**) French; "what"

**10**) German: "dad" or "daddy"

**11**) German; "brother"

**12**) German: "Mr"

**13**) Izaak is a German and Polish form of Greek Isaák, meaning "he will laugh"

**14**) German; "no"

**15**) Edgar Allan Poe: Poe traveled to West Point and matriculated as a cadet on July 1, 1830. Poe decided to leave West Point by purposely getting court-martialed.

**16**) German: "God"

**17**) French: "hello"

**18**) The Musical Offering: The Musical Offering (German title Musikalisches Opfer or Das Musikalische Opfer), BWV 1079, is a collection of canons and fugues and other pieces of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, all based on a single musical theme given to him by Frederick the Great (Frederick II of Prussia), to whom they are dedicated.

**19**) German: "my"

**20) Start Time**: 9/9/2012 3:37 PM;  
**End Time**: 9/17/2012 6:47 PM;  
**Word Count**: 6,267

**21**) I wrote this for an English assignment, short story, although it's long compared to all the other ones in the class. Band. Marching band, I'm sure several can relate. Spending fourteen hours tomorrow at school for the dang thing and a football game that my school is going to lose again. But we found out that we aren't the worst school in the state which is funny because we have yet win a single game.


End file.
